Top 7 Reasons to Ski Loveland

As my family of four drove to Loveland Ski Area the morning of Christmas Eve, I casually mentioned to my husband: Dont forget we need to get back early for our party. Our what? he countered.

Instructors at Loveland

Turned out I had forgotten to inform him we were hosting 25 of our closest friends at a Christmas Eve party that night. Sounds stressful? It was but there is no better way to alleviate anxiety than by skiing before the most frenetic holiday of the year.
Why do it? Here are my top seven reasons to hit Loveland Ski Area.

1) Access. As one of the closet skier areas to Denvers Front Range (just 50 miles from downtown Denver and a quick 40-minute jaunt from my house), Loveland is the perfect daytrip or totally doable if you want to squeeze in a few hours on the slopes.

2) Lack of crowds. Colorado ski areas are notoriously crowded between Christmas and New Years. But the day before Christmas, we had a fresh dusting of snow and no lift lines. Ever dreamed of wide-open slopes? This was my favorite Christmas present. (picture)

No crowds

3) Santa! The Man in Red was seen playing hooky around the resortgiving out candy canes and taking last-minute gift requests.

4) It wears the kids out for Christmas Eve. Thats right: I had an ulterior motive beyond just spending time together as a family. After a half-day skiing their hearts out and our party that night, my kids were begging to go to bed. This made it exponentially easier for Santas helpers to setup Christmas without exuberant kids popping out of bed all night to see if he had come.

5) White Christmas. We were lucky to wake up to a few inches of new snow Christmas morning but lets face it: Denver is notoriously flakey (and not in a good way) and there are no guarantees for the white stuff. At Loveland, we had our fill of playing in a winter wonderland.

And a couple other great reasons to ski or ride Loveland this year:

6) Loveland Ski Area is celebrating its 75th season. Dont miss their 75th anniversary party on January 12,2013 with food, drink, freebies, music and several great perks including lift tickets for just $37 all weekend long. Loveland will also be doing 75 Days of Giveaways on weekends, holidays and a few random days throughout the year where they will surprise guests with prizes including lunch, lift tickets, gear, lessons, season passes and more.http://www.skiloveland.com/events/75th1.aspx

7) Winter Wigglers. As a mom with young kids, I struggled to find fun things to do with my kids in the winter. New this season, Wednesday Winter Wigglers preschool program offers two three-week sessions in January and February with a two-hour ski lesson, lunch and one hour of educational indoor activities. http://www.skiloveland.com/skischool/WinterWigglers.aspx